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APSH tips to preggy mommies

Happy Birthday to my dear BFF who celebrated her birthday yesterday. She’s preggy now so not that much a celebration with the morning sickness wave. Still, she got one of the greatest gift ever in her womb now so no complaints.

Some of my preggy friends were asking about hospital check-up and gynae. So I’m going to share some of my notes here.

Hospital
I think about 2 weeks after I discovered the 2 lines in the pee stick, I started searching for gynae. To me, firstly is to choose the hospital. Location is very important. I don’t want to rush thru traffic jam in case of emergency, and it is important that I can drive there on my own. I’m not a very well-verse driver so Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital is certainly ranked number 1 in this case. Second nearest is Gleneagles but that place more pricey though.

Gynae
Once I decide the hospital, then we screen the gynae. There are a few gynaes there. I take note stories about them, basically from words of mouth and from bloggers. It’s easy nowadays. just type nama doctor tu and voila! A lot of stories from true life experiences. You can also choose based on religion and gender, up to your personal preference.

So after I did 1 hour internet research, I called APSH number and make an appointment with one of them. My plan is to try first with this one doctor and kalau okay, I will continue with her.

The first check-up of course I was so excited + nervous macam nak exam pulak rasanya. Hubby was not there coz he has to go for Friday prayer. But I don’t really care about that. My mind fully on the baby. Is he safe? Is he healthy?

So when the doc scanned me and said everything was okay, I was so thankful. She said something like this…”nie dah boley nampak kepalanya, badannya. Panjang 1.66cm. Inilah kuasa Allah. To think how something so small can already move like that…mechanical robot ciptaan manusia tak boley buat macam nie”

Her above comments made me feel calm. That’s when I decided to continue her to be my gynae. I do want somebody like her to be the first to hold my baby. Memang tak sia sia pilihanku coz the first thing my baby heard when he arrived into the world 9 months later was the gynae saying “Assalamualaikum”. Lepas tu barulah dengar si kecil menangis sekuat kuatnya memenuhi ruang OT room tu hehehe…

Anyway, I find doctors usually are not talkative type. They won’t voluntary tell you things but if you ask them, they will surely explain. Thus some friends complaint that they usually don’t know what to ask/ forgot what to ask when it’s appointment time.

So what I did, appointment kita kan sebulan sekali…So kalau tetiba ada persoalan I just jot it down first. Then on the day of appointment go thru all the questions list and recap with hubby in the car. Example:- “Ada 3 soklan nak tanya hari nie:-diabetes test, amniotic fluid, baby breech position”. So lepas ultra sound check up, terus tanya all these issues sebelum lupa.

Appointment hoursIf your hubby don’t have a lot of annual leaves, it’s good to take note on the gynae’s office hours. For me it’s okay coz boley mintak MC kan. All gynaes in APSH are quite famous (plus population kat ampang nie kan ramai), so everyday mesti ramai orang.

Prenatal ClassesAPSH provide prenatal classes. It is held every saturday for 1-2 hours, I think it takes 4 saturdays to complete the course. The price is reasonable (can’t remember exact figure). For virgin-baby like us, the classes memang very helpful. Amongst the thing covered are nutrition, breastfeeding, and of course yang paling kita nak tau at that time are things involve labor and pain management.

This is a perfect time to ask the nurses any of your curiosity. Remember that no question is a stupid question. The other expecting parents are happy to share their anxiety as well. The nurse will also bring you to tour the labor room so that you are familiar with it. I think that’s a good idea coz once you are familiar with things you won’t get too nervous.

Maternity Ward/NurseryThe maternity ward/nursery staffs were extremely superb with their service. Amongst others they went extra effort to help my baby breastfeeding and personally taught hubby how to bath a newborn.

Delivery Cost
They have package price for normal delivery, quite reasonable price (can’t remember the figure). If you have to go for c-sect like me, it will definetely cost you at least 10K. (Boley start menabung since the first preggy month). However you can talk to the gynae and she will give you discount. Make formal letter to the finance department and actually they can give you price cut (macam tak percaya jer since it is a private hospital kan). The finance guy really helpful siap datang jumpa kitorang kat bilik.

Paedtrician Same like gynae, paedtrician pun kena que jugak but not as bad as gynae. Check their appointment hours and avoid saturdays. Ask them all questions you have coz they are expert. Sama macam gynae, I take note all relevant questions before making appointment so we feels it is more worth it to pay them. Kalau setakat nak jab jer nurse kat hospital kerajaan pun boley buat kan…

Hmm..okay, it’s another long weekend this week so hope you have a great weekend. Nanti bulan March + April dah takde public hols tau.